Christian Eriksen became Manchester United’s second signing of the summer earlier this month and the Danish international has now linked up with his new teammates at Carrington.
Eriksen’s move on a free transfer was not completed in time for the 30-year-old to join United’s tour of Thailand and Australia but after Erik ten Hag’s side returned from the two-week trip, he has now delivered his first interview.
Eriksen could make his first appearance for the Reds later this week, with two friendlies in two days awaiting the side before next week’s Premier League curtain-raiser against Brighton.
Ahead of that prospect, Eriksen has now admitted that he never expected the move to United to happen – despite endless links over the last five years.
“Ah, very new! It’s weird, I never thought it would actually happen, so to be here, like you say being a Manchester United player, it’s very special,” Eriksen told the official Manchester United website.
When further pressed on the matter, he explained why a return to the Premier League was not in his planning prior to the incident at last summer’s European Championship.
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“No, because I think from my career path before the incident in the Euros, the planning wasn’t to go back to the UK at all. I was thinking my time to go to Manchester United was before!
“Obviously, then I was at Spurs, and then went to Italy, but now to sit here is definitely something that I didn’t expect, but I’m also very happy that I’m here. It feels good, it feels good to be here.”
SN’s verdict…
Eriksen’s arrival is timely for Ten Hag – he is light in midfield and that department needed to be bolstered ahead of an unprecedented season.
The lack of pre-season preparation with his new teammates could mean that it will take a couple of weeks before he is up to speed with the new regime, however.
It will be fascinating to see how Ten Hag decides to use Eriksen. Recently, he has been conditioned to play deeper in midfield but he has flourished in an attacking role for most of his career. As things stand, that’s Bruno Fernandes’ position to lose.
